I received a packages from a PBS member today marked postage due. I have only had this happen once before. the total cost that i had to pay was only $1.03  which isn't a lot of money i know. but my post office will not deliver postage due packages to homes. you have to go to the post office with a little card they place in your mail box and retrieve your packages. so not only am i out the $1.03  for a book that was suppose to be free to me but also the gas to go and retrieve it.  

the person who sent me the book. sent it using printed postage from stamps.com. they printed out a postage label  that has a total of $1.99 on it and states that  it is to be sent first class postage. also when i opened the package i found that the book was damaged. the first 20+ pages are wavy and have water stains on them.

normally i would say oh must be a new member who just hasn't been on PBS long or who just doesn't know the rules. but according to this member's profile they have been a member  here since 2006.

so my question is how would you mark this book. do i marked it damged by sender or for insufficiant postage? is there a way to do both?

i am very mad about this as this was a wishlisted book. any advice is most appreciated.

I would say that the sender should give you 2 credits - 1 for the postage that you had to pay, and possibly 1 (depending on when the book was damaged) for the damaged book since you'll likely want to request a different copy. I would definitely mark it as RWaP damaged by either sender (if the packaging is undamaged) or USPS (if the packaging was damaged).

According to the FAQ:

Postage due:

• If you receive a book postage-due that bears your current address on it (it was not forwarded), and you have accepted the package from the mail carrier already, you should contact the sender to discuss this.  Please be polite: this was probably a simple mistake.

• You should mark the book received as described in There is a problem with a book I received!.

• The sender will get credit for sending the book, but if the postage-due is more than a dollar, you can ask him or her to compensate you for the missing postage.

  • You can contact the sender during the process of marking the book received - or afterward using the PM button on the completed transaction for the book in your Transaction Archive
  • Be sure to note the postage due amount in the note you write while marking the  book received.

• You can arrange any solution that you like (the sender can give the credit back, or send you postage, or another book for no credits...whatever you agree on).

Damaged:

• Damaged by sender
  • You will be required to describe the book condition problem in a text box - the text you type in will be included in an email, and sent as a Personal Message, to the sender.
  • You will have the option to request a credit refund - this is checked by default for this problem type.  If this option is checked, the email the sender gets will include the request for a credit refund. If you uncheck this option, the email sent to the sender will NOT mention or request a credit refund.
  • If this was a Wish List book (and there are no other copies available), you will go back in your previous place in line for the book.  If there are other copies available, the book will go onto your Reminder List.
• Damaged by USPS
  • You will have the option to describe the book condition problem in a text box - the text you type in will be included in an email, and sent as a Personal Message, to the sender.
  • You will have the option to request a credit refund - this is UNchecked by default for this problem type.  If you check this option (if you believe the Wrapping contributed to the book's damage by USPS), the email the sender gets will include the request for a credit refund. If you leave this unchecked,  the email sent to the sender will NOT mention or request a credit refund.
  • If this was a Wish List book (and there are no other copies available), you will go back in your previous place in line for the book.  If there are other copies available, the book will go onto your Reminder List.

I am sorry this happened to you ; but I will learn from your misfortune . If I ever receive a postage due book (marked first class) I will refuse it and return to sender. Then they can pay the postage to get it back.

i wasn't home when my postal carrier tried to deliver this package. i had a card in my mailbox that said i had to pick it up at my local post office and the card didn't have any info on it about  where the package was sent from or a tracking  number.

so i had no way of knowing what the package was until i went to the post office with the card and when there are 10+ people behind you in line they don't exactly want you standing there inspecting the item  and holding up the rest of the line.  so its a less then 5 min conversation  do you want the package or not.

it's faster than the drive thru at McDonald's lol

I would mark it RWAP-damaged by sender so that I would reclaim my place in the WL queue. I'm not sure if marking it RWAP-postage due returns you to your place in the WL line. I would also request 2 credits back to compensate for the postage due. 

i just marked this package damaged by sender and requested  2 credits back 1 for the damage and 1 for the postage due that i had to pay to get it. i will post the reply if/when i hear back from the sender.

Might want to report this situation to PBS also.....maybe they had weight wrong in the system and $1.99 was truly what member was shown would be the accurate amount of postage to pay.  

I too think you are owed 2 credits.

I've never received a PBS book postage due (thankfully), but I was so grateful to my local post office when I received a postage due notice a few months ago. Not knowing what it was, I would have probably paid it, but the counter girl was kind enough to tell me "we have a stack of these packages here with improper postage, and they are essentially "junk mail". We can't keep you from paying for it, but if you prefer, we can send it back." I would have been really angry if I had paid postage for junk mail!

Fara, it really depends on the member.  I once received a book postage due - it was a very large, heavy book.  When I went to the PO to retrieve it (since they don't tell you what it is, just that you have a package) I saw that it was PBS.  The postage was over $4, since somehow it got sent without any postage at all.  I paid it and contacted the member, and they gave me credits that covered the amount.

I only got a postage due package from a PBS member once - she had used priority mail packing and I would have had to pay priority rates, so I refused it. The sender resent it after she got it back. She didn't have to but I really appreciated it.

Oh - I never marked it as postage due in PBS since she resent it and I got it before it was called lost; I just had pmed her about the situation, so once I actually got the book I just marked it received.

No one should be sending books using pre purchased postage, such as PBS postage, PayPal postage, etc unless they have a scale to weigh the package before sending. PBS weights are very often inaccurate and I routinely get books without enough postage as well as books with way too much postage on them...buy an inexpensive scale, it will pay for itself if you send books out regularly.

oh dear, looks like you got double-whammied!

I don't accept postage due packages.

But if I did, I would certainly ask for 2 credits back......one for the postage due I paid, and the other for the damaged book/RWAP.

Ask once, and then refer over to PBS Team. 

If a newbie, sometimes they learn the ropes by making mistakes, and sometimes a learning experience like that enhances their ability to participate here.  (but You should not have to pay for their mistakes  LOL)

The only other scenario is they just don't care.  

2 be honest, there's only 2 people here who made me go thru "changes" after an RWAP.  I am able to photograph stuff, etc.  (serious damage that is not USPS, books with massive notes and underlining, CDs that skip across mroe than one CD or one box set I received that literally looked like people ATE OFF THEM for dinner plates and which I would have needed a bucket of soapy water to clean before placing in my expensive CD system, which I was NOT going to do.)

Most people are consciencious and want to do the right thing.  The above cases......you really do not want to deal with them again anyway  LOL and count your blessings they are not "in" your life except for here, and that you can avodi them like the plague LOL

I'd mark it RWAP  ,   another thing is how does it go through without postage?